Squall Leonhart vs Sora vs Cloud Strife vs Mewtwo 2008
Results Round Three Monday, November 10th, 2008 Stats and Analysis * Mewtwo advancing was the #1 most surprising result of 2008 * Mewtwo advancing was also the #6 most surprising result of all-time, with the only results beating that are that of L-Block's 2007 Championship run and Charizard's Heart Division championship in 2010. * Mewtwo overperformed by +4.17%, the #21 most impressive performance of 2008 ** This marked the third straight round where Mewtwo defied expectations, having overperformed by even more in Round 1 and then underperforming in Round 2. That match pic up there tells you all you'll need to know about this one. With three Square heroes going up against each other there was bound to be some massive SFF going around, especially with Cloud involved. Tagging along with the Square trio was Mewtwo, whose Round 2 bomb against Midna had raised concerns about his prospects of advancing. However, Mewtwo's chances of advancing were somewhat brighter than many had predicted. As mentioned earlier, Sora and Squall were likely to be hurt by being in the same match as Cloud. Also, there was some talk of a "Pokemon boost" after Pikachu's surprising victory over L-Block earlier in Round 3. Once the match began, it was clear that Mewtwo had put the talk of his Round 2 disappointment behind him. Cloud did his thing, Mewtwo capitalized on the massive SFF beating, and the match was never in doubt after the first few minutes. Match Trends Ngamer's Same Day Analysis Match Prediction And now for what might very well be the best triple-threat of the whole season! Whooooo. X-Stats from Round Two * Cloud - 44.01% (based on '07 Midna) * Mewtwo - 21.14% (based on '07 Midna) * Squall - 31.38% (based on '07 Fox) * Sora - 30.23% (based on '07 Fox) The trend this round has been for our NN and other elites to redeem themselves for those soft R1 showings, and given that this is going to be a massive SFF situation, you'd think Cloud would be all set to outdo Link's powerhouse performance from earlier in the week. But not so fast! Square SFF can be bad at times, sure, but it still seems to pale in comparison to the kind of vicious Nintendo SFF that Link can lay down on the Warios of the world. So even though he'll be hurting his Kingdom Hearts buddies quite a bit, I can't see them collapsing far enough to let him take a shot at Link's percentage... heck, if he can even manage 45% I'll be thoroughly impressed! Speaking of R3 trends, the biggest of all to this point has been Nintendo once again looking like the champs they've been ever since '05. Link, Mario, Samus, Snake today, and of course being topped off by that incredible stunner by Pikachu... which means that Mewtwo has no choice but to do great today! Yes, Cloud certainly hurt his casual appeal a couple weeks back, but I still think that much of that ugly result needs to be chalked up to Midna's decent Zelda appeal. I was feeling pretty decent about Mew advancing out of this one two days ago, but I feel very good about it after seeing an unhindered Pika unleash that full Pokemon power on L-Block. Let's go Mewtwo! The only question that remains to be answered: Sora, or Squall? Well on the one hand Cloud figures to damage Squall a decent bit more, given how connected FF7 and FF8 would have to be. But on the other hand, he's not going to be held back by Smilin' Squall this time around, which in my mind is going to be worth a ton. Even it out, and I think I still have to give Sora an advantage...but only a small one. If he wins this, I imagine he's going to have to do so with his sick ASV. So if Cloud ruins the competition but Mewtwo improves thanks to Midna's absence while Sora and Squall kill each other all day, we'd be looking at something along the lines of... *stirs in the pot for two minutes* * Cloud with 44.51% * Mewtwo with 19.09% * Sora with 18.24% * Squall with 18.16% That looks... weird. But with triple Square it's bound to be, right? Ngamer Says: Cloud > Mewtwo Next Day Review Haha, Mewtwo goes from 17% on Cloud to 23%... still on Cloud! Golly, I gave Midna plenty of credit for holding him down, but even so I didn't see any way for that crazy Pokemon to crack 20%, not with legit competition like Squall and Sora in the picture. I guess this is the ultimate vindication for the "sore thumb" theory... not that anyone should have really doubted it, but still, yikes. External Links * Match Updates * Guru Match Predictions * Oracle Match Results • Previous Match • Next Match Category:2008 Contest Matches